Promoting a healthy heart and life

Research shows that regular practice of Transcendental Meditation reduces physical stress and promotes and maintains a healthy heart

Stress damages the heart

Psychological stress has been shown to increase activation of the sympathetic nervous system and the hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis. This increased activation releases adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, which lead to faster heart rate, increased cardiac output, and narrower arteries.

These changes, in turn, create increased blood pressure. Activation of these systems also accelerates the progress of atherosclerosis and can lead to acute plaque rupture, which results in ischemia of the heart (angina) and coronary heart disease and stroke.

TM promotes a healthy heart

The twice-daily practice of the Transcendental Meditation technique reduces activation of the sympathetic nervous system—which, in turn, dilates the blood vessels and reduces stress hormones, such as adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol, and provides stress relief. Published research confirms that TM:

Reduces high blood pressure

Reduces atherosclerosis

Reduces constriction of blood vessels

Reduces thickening of coronary arteries

Reduces use of antihypertensive medication

Reduces mortality rates

Research validates the benefits to health

The National Institutes of Health has granted over $20 million to study the effects of the Transcendental Meditation program on the prevention and treatment of heart disease, hypertension, and stroke. In addition, hundreds of other studies have been conducted on the beneficial effects of the TM program for mind, health, behavior, and society at over 210 independent universities and research institutions in 33 countries, including Harvard, Yale, and UCLA Medical School.

Reduced High Blood Pressure & Death Rates - American Journal of Cardiology